Domestic refrigerator



Ol 7, 1941. v c. G. VRETMAN 2,257,925' I DOME'STIC REFRIGERATOR one sidethereof will; be

Patented Oct. 7,*194'1 UNITE-D sTTEs PATENT] OFFICE. I

DOMESTIC BEFRGERATOR v Carl G. Vretman, Atlanta, Ga. l

Application May 1s, 1939, serialL No. 273,981 'z clama (oi. 62:-95)

.This invention relates to refrigerators, and particularly to coolingelements for domestic refrigerat'ors and the arrangement of the cooling-elements in the refrigerator housing.

An object of this invention isy to provide a cooling element andarrangement thereof which will provide a freezing compartment normallyout ofcommunication with the rest of the refrigerator chamber and whichwill cool the rest of the refrigerator chamber to the desiredtemperature without any part of the rest of the chamber being below,freezing or frosting temperatura' compartments is eliminated and `dryingof ythe food compartments is reduced.

Another object of this invention is to provide an extremely simplearrangement of the cooling elements in' the housing which will dividethe inside of the chamber or box into a pluralityv of compartmentswhich, by reasonI of the rela.-

tive location yof the cooling elements, will tend to maintain saidcompartments at different relative temperatures.

Another object of the invention is to provide 'a freezing unit whichwill not require a drip pan to catch such small quantity of moisturet ofcondensation as may occur, and in which said moisture, if any, will notfall upon the contents ci the refrigerator but willA run down the sidewalls. 2

A further objectv of this invention is/to` pro.

vide a cooling unit of such commotion that the absorption of heat fromthe compartments on substantially uniform 'throughout all unit areasthereof, so as to avoid irregular freezing and accumulationl of frost.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator boxor housing divided' into several compartments which, when the door isclosed, are completely and tightly sealed from each other so as toprevent interchange 4of atmcsphere and temperature exchange, butwhich,when the door is open, will be open for free access thereto.

LA furtherobiect of this invention is to pro- -vide a refrigeratorhaving a plurality of compartments, one -of which is a freezingcompart-.'

ment, in y which the food compartments are' cooled by the same coolingelements as the freezand humidity of the food compartments will not",

have access to the freezing compartment, whereby frosting of thefreezing compartment and drying of the atmosphere of the foodcompartments are reduced.

IA still further object of the inventionis to provide a freezing unit ofa type which can be cleared o f frost or ice or other .adhering matterquickly` and conveniently by scrapingv substantially plane, smoothsurfaces and without the necessity of putting the rfrigerating apparatusf' out of operation.

Still another object of this invention is to combine a flat evaporatorwithl a flat plate or chamber containing liquid which does not freeze at`the temperature to which jected or is of a refrigerant nature, that is,a

liquid capable of circulating or movingabout y'actively due to small.temperature differences, sol

that the liquid serves .as a heat transfer or disfrosting temperature.-Y n A further object of this invention is to enlarge the coolingsurfaces effecting the storage com.. partments of the refrigerator so asto increase 'the heat transfer area and to thus reduce'the intensity ofcoldness of saidsurfaces 'while obtaining at least equal heat transfer.

A still further object of this inventionis to4 provide for removal ofcondensation from the coolingsurfaces to ak collecting vessel in a sim--ple manner requiring no drip pan.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate' three embodimentsof theinvention by way of example only,

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of a domestic refrigerator;

Fig. 2 is an elevational sectional view on the line H-II of F18. 1;

Flg.3 is a verticalside sectional view of a vsecond embodiment.

Fig. 4 is an elevational sectional view of Fig. 3 on the line IV-IVthereof; i

Fig. 5 ls aside sectional view of a third'emy bodiment of the invention:and y, Fig.' 6 is an elevational sectional viw on line VI-VI thereof. y

IIn the drawings,`nume'ral l indicates generally an Vinsulated boxhaving a door 2 at thef/'front and supported abovea compartment I/forthe y refrigeration: mechanism'indicated generally-byl-,

ing compartment, but in which the atmosphere numeral 14.- I Therefrigeration mechanism may it is to be sub.

' is .diagrammatically represented in the drawing as a conventionalmechanical unit comprisinga (Fig. 2) or from the front towards the rearso that moisture of condensation or melted' frost, if any..will run tothe sides or back instead of 4dropping upon' the contents of the lowercompartment.

The walls of the freezing compartment are located in the refrigerator atanydesired locacompressorracondenser, a receiver, and com nections forconducting the refrigerant to an' expansion valve 5 located in closeproximity to the evaporator. In Figs. l and 2 thecooling elements, 1.and Lmay comprise evaporators l and Il in the form of flat coils orelse vacuum plates of more or less conventional character per se andliquid rheat transfer plates Il and `i4 located on the top and bottomvof theupper and lower evaporators 9, Il respectively. The evaporatorsare preferably connected in series. and one of said evaporators. f orinstance, the

lower evaporator 9, receives the expanding re frigerant from' theexpansion valve 5, and from saig'lower evaporator l the refrigerantthrough Il to the upper evaporator IL from `which 'it then passesthrough return pipe-l1 'back to the compressor or the like.

The compartment 23 between the cooling elements 'I and l constitutes thecoldest compart ment of the refrigerator, which is used for making, iceor frozen desserts. for keeping meat, or

for other purposes where low temperatures, are

tion depen temperatures desired to be maintained 'inithe upper and lowercompartments. If it is desired that the upper compartment be colderthan-the lower compartment, the division walls constituted by thecooling elements and liquid plates should be located considerably closerto the'top than to the bottom. The uppercompartment thus being thesmallerrequires less cooling to attain the lower temperature but, due tothe fact that heat tends to rise,l the eiiiciencyv of heat transfer fromthe lower compartment to the lower liquid plate is higher than from theupper ent to the upper liquid plate. This ds to make the lowercompartment the colder ment .be made even smaller than would othersovrequired. Freezing trays 'Il are shown-in the freezing compartment 23 inbroken lines.

The liquid heat transfer plateseor vchambers are entirely closed `andfit closely against4 the side and back walls of the refrigerator box andmay be soldered'orN otherwise integrally connected with the walls or mayhave rubber sealing strips between the edges and'walls in such manner asto prevent airor liquid `frompassing betvveen'their edg'esand the walls,and may be soldered.. welded, cemented -or otherwise intewise be thecase, in order that it shall have the lower temperature of the two. Itwill be observed that in the illustrated embodiment the upperlcompartment is shown as beingv only about half thesize of the lowercompartment.

This relation of sizes can be varied at will 'and if it is desired thatthe lower compartment be the colder, it is only necessary. to arrangethe cooling elements at a lower pomtion.

cIn operation. the freezing compartment, being located directly betweenthe two evaporators land il, is maintained at a low tempera- `ture forfreezing its contents. The upper compartment 2| being comparativelysmall isthe grally'connected to the evaporator-sto prevent moisture fromgetting therebetween. The liquid plates are filled with allquid whichwill not freeze' at the temperature' to which it is to be subjected,or-which may be of a refrigerant nature. At the front edges of theliquid plates, re'- silient packings, such as rubber strips Il and i9,are secured for seallng'against the inside of the door when the door isclosed, thus preventing passage of air or liquid.

The purpose of the liquid plates is to make the temperature on theirsides opposite the cooling elements uniform, and possibly may retardheat transfer to'such e'i'ttent that said opposite sides may remainabove freezing at all times. 'It is apparent that alongthe suriaces ofthe vacuum plates the portions closely adjacent an interior pipe Will becolder than the portions adjacent the spaces or gaps between theinterior pipes.

This is undesirable, as it would cause freezing. 'of ice orfrost inridges along the/colder portions.

However, this unevenness of temperature cannot penetrate through theliquid plates but, due

` to the action .or local movement withinthe liquid, is made uniform theonsoste snrfaces.

The division walls' forming the coldest compartment are thus constitutedby the cooling elements which include the evaporators, which may beVacuum plates, and liquid plates which are smooth and substantiallypiane on their suriaces.

'liquid piste -is preferably next coldest compartment.

The floor of this compartment which is constituted by the liquid plateI4 in contact with vacuum plate' I0, serves to cool the compartment, andthe liquid plate 'serves to make the temperature-uniform .over

the entire area of the iloor. As the upper surface ofthe liquid plate issmooth. accumulations of frost, if any, may be scraped'oi the plate sothat it will hardly ever be necessary to turn ci! ,the refrigerationapparatus for defrosting. In

a similar way' the lower compartment 22 is cooled by liquid plate n, butthwcompartment 'z2 being larger than the upper compartment is maintainedat a. higher temperature. However. the relative temperature can bechanged by changing the position of the cooling elements so that therelative sizes ofthe compartments is changed. If moisture should ever bepresent on the lower face of liquid heat transfer platev I3, it will runto thesides or back and down the side Walls or back wall instead of.dropping upon the contents of the compartment, this action being due tothe lateral or rearward downward slope ci the lower face of said plate.

lIn the embodiment illustrated in Figs. l and 2 two evaporatorsconnected in series have been disclosedbut, if desired, one of thesemay-be omitted, in which case a liquid heat transfer 'plate or a plainsheet metal plate will serve as However, i slower surface of the lower"cpe slightly ein the sides the partition for the freezing-compartment.

Furthermore, as a further alteration, one or both of the evaporators mayextend only partially' across the cham-berfbut in'this case the liquidor metal heat transfer plates should extend the entire width and serveas the partitions. En the 'embodiment illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5incinsive the outer shell elf-the refrreralfor'.

' principally Vupon the relative I this condensation, the platedownwardly rearwardly and at the rear a drain housing and therefrigeration mechanism lov cated in the lower part of from Fig, 4; theupper and lower 'plates 21 and 23 respectively Aof evaporator '26 arejoined together at one edge by a vertical plate portion 29. 'I'he uppersurface of lower plate portion 23 is v' vpreferably level and mayserveforY supporting the refrigerator may be similar to .that described inconnection with ordinary ice trays 30. For the purpose of uniformlydistributing the cooling effect of 'the evaporator 26, particularlythatof the vertical portion 29 thereof, and for dividing the interior ofthe housing into compartments, liquid lates 32, 33 ,and'34 are provided.Liquid plate 32 may 'extend' vertically the entireextent of thechamfelastic sealing strip its .upper surface, and its lower surface isin contact with or soldered to the flat upper face of a liquid plate 34which .per liquid plate 33 in that it divides the .chamber horizontallyand is sealed against the door by an I4 and against the side and rearvwalls by soldering or rubber packing 3|, but, 'instead of th uppersurface being corrugated. the lower surf e is corrugated. The lowersurface of this plate slopesdownwardly rearwardly so that any moisturethat may accumulate will run to the 4rear and down the rear wall toagutter '45 which collects the moisture and conducts it to thecollecting vessel tioned.

Instead ofthe liquid corrugated surfaces, the thereof may be increasedfins.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 theliquid plates are not used fory dividing` the chamber transversely, butin this v42 previously menplates 33 and 34 having area of heaty transferby providing a series of I case the evaporator is made so that the pipesexber and entirely from front to rear. The top,` bottom and rearedgesare preferably air-tightly joined to the walls of the chamber by rubberpacking strips 3i or by soldering or the like and the front edge isprovided with an elastic strip 35 which seals against the door whenclosed. The vertical liquid plate serves as a partition dividing aconpartnuent 31 from the chamber and also, as mentioned above, serves tospread out the cooling effect of the vertical part 29 of the evaporatorso that nopart of the surface of the vertical liquid' plate adjacentcompartmentl 31 will be below freezing temperature and frosting will notoccur on this surface. Liquid plate 33 extends over the upper part 2l ofthe evaporator/and is preferably'tightly joined to this part of theevaporator, for'instance'kby i soldering, to improve the heattransmission and tend around a freezing chamber and are enclosed -byinner and outer box-like platesl 52 and 53 and the evaporator issurrounded by a box-like liquid plate 54 which may extend forwardly andrearwardly. 'Ihe outer walls may be corrugatedv or provided with fins toincrease the heat transfer and,l if necessary, the rear may have aliquid heat transfer plate secured thereto to increase the area oftransfer to ensure that no part of the outer surface is below freezingin orderv thatlnc frosting -shall occur. If desired, the front end maybe provided with a hinged do'or to close off l the interior and preventcirculation of air.

I claim:

i' l. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber, a coolingelement in said chamber dividing off a part of said chamber as a'freezing; ycompartment while the remainder" serves as a y cold storagecompartment, said cooling element to prevent moisture. or ice getting.between the adjacent surfaces thereof. The liquid plate 33 preferablyextends entirely from front to rear of the chamber and entirely acrossthe chamber.y

from the liquid plate 32 to the opposite wall and thus divides off anupper compartment 33 in the chamber. The front edge is preferably'providedwith an elastic-.strip9 for sealing against the door and theside and rear edges may be soldered or sealed by rubber strips 3i to theadjacent'walls. The upper surface of liquid plate 33 is corrugated foryincreasing the area of heat exchange to the air in compartment 33. Theliquid plate will distribute the cooling effect s o that no part of itsupper surface will collect frost, but being generally cooler than theair Iincompartment 3,3, there may be a certain amount ofv con' densationon the surface. In order to drain off is 'made to slope pipe lll extendsdownwardly to a collecting vessei l2 in the lower portion of therefrigerator or `to a gutter which leads to the collecting vessel. Sinceit is undesirable for dishes or the like con- \taining liquid to rest ona sloping surface; a level grlllfllk is placed in the uppercompartmentclose to the liquid plate 33 for supporting the contents ofthe compartment. f

As previously stated, the upper surface o the lower portion 23 of theevaporator 26, is lev on toward said cold storage compartment being cor-`rugated to increase theA area of heat transfer.

l3. In a refrigerate walls and-fa door forming.A

plate'toward the freezing container closed with respect to therefrigerant,

comprising an evaporator in the form of' a at. plate toward the freezingchamber'l and a dat i container, filled with liquid which will notfreeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected, said datliquid container being located on the side of said evaporatorfplatetoward. the cold storage compartment for distributing the cooling effectof the evaporator over the urface of .the liquid container opposite thee a orator, said container being entirely closed to the refrigerant, thesurface of said liquid-containing chamber toward said cold storagecompartment being 'extended beyond the limits of the evaporator toincrease the area of heat transfer.

2. In a domestic refrigerator, walls forming a chamber, a coolingelement in said chamber dividing oif a part of said chamber as-afreezing compartrmni". while the remainder serves as a coldstoragecompartment, said cooling element comprising an evaporator in the-formof a fiat chamber and a flat said container being* filled with liquidwhich will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to be subjected,said' container being located on the side of the evaporator plate towardthe, cold storh; age compartment for uniformly distributing thecoolingeffect of the evaporator over the surface of the liquid containeropposite the evaporator, the surface of.` saidliquid-containing chambermay be similar to the uptermediate part a chamber, a pair of nat coolingelements extending horizontally entirely across the chamber and spacedapart from each other so as to form a freezing compartment therebetweenand -upper and lower storage compartments above and below respectively,said cooling elements including flat evaporators and flatliquid-containing chambers adjacent said evaporators on the sidesthereof adjacent the upper and lower compartments respectivelyforeliminating temperature diil'erences in the cooling surfaces of thecooling elevmerits, the upper surface of the upper liquid chambersloping downwardly rearwardly, and a drain pipe leading from the rearedge of said 'upper surf ce for carrying away condensation liquid.

4. In a refrigerator, walls and a door forming a chamber, a pair of fiatcooling elements extending horizontally entirelyv across the chamber andspaced apart -from each other vso as to form a freezing compartmenttherebetween andupper and lower storage compartments above and belowrespectively, said cooling elements including flat evaporators and natliquid-containing chambers adjacent said evaporators'bn the sidesthereof adjacent the upper` and lower compartments respectively foreliminating temperature difler Aences inthe cooling surfaces of thecooling elements, the lower surface of the lower liquid chamber slopingdownwardly rearwardly, and a sloping gutter. extending across the rearwall of the lower compartment near the lbottom thereof for collectingcondensation water running down said rear wall.

5. In a refrigerator, insulated walls 'and a -door forming arefrigeration chamber, a vertically extending flat chamber containingliquid extending v containing plates adjacent and below said upper andlower evaporator plates respectively and in close contact therewith'saidhorizontally extending liquid-containing cham-l bers extendingentirely.` across the refrigeration chamber laterally and forwardly andrearwardly between the vertically extending liquid-containingchambersand the insulated walls of the refrigeration chamber exceptinthe compartment divided of! by said vertical liquid-containingchambers, whereby said evaporator and liquidcontaining chambers form afreezing compartment and'food storage compartments, the walls of whichstorage compartments are maintained at a uniform temperature by the heatdistributing effect of the liquid-containing chambers.

6. In a domestic refrigerator, wallsforming a chamber, a cooling elementin said chamber dividing on' a part vor member as a freezing'compartment while the remainder serves as a cold storage comp ment, saidcooling element comprising an evaporator in the form of a fiat. platetoward the freezing chamber, and also a flat' container, filled withliquid which will not freeze at the temperature to which it is to beysubjected,

said flat liquid container .being located on vthe side of the evaporatorplate toward the cold storage compartment, said liquid container havinga portion extending beyond the evaporator liquid container toincreasethe aresv of heat exchange so. as to distribute the cooling effect oftheevaporator over the surface of the liquid container opposite theevaporator plate.

,7. In a domestic refrigerator, walls and a door forming a chamber, acooling element located in said chamber and comprising horizontal andvertical evaporator pla'tes forming a box-"like freezing, compartment,horizontal and outside said evaporator plates foxl distributing' the`'cooling horizontally extendeffect ofu the evaporator plates evenly overthe outer surface of the liquid plates so as to maintain the surfaces incontact with the atmosphere of the chamber outside of the freezingcompartment at a uniform temperature.

CARL G. VRII'I'MAN.l

and vertical liquid-

